All posts tagged Hugo

LOS ANGELES — Nominated 10 times, including her most recent nod for “Hugo,” costume designer Sandy Powell knows what will and won’t have her taking home the golden statue. She won her first Academy Award for “Shakespeare in Love” (1998), (she was also nominated that year for “Velvet Goldmine”) and then emerged victorious for her work on “The Aviator” (2004) and “The Young Victoria” (2009).

“The most difficult part of this week is all the parties,” Powell said last night. Since Tuesday night’s Costume Designers Guild Awards, Powell has been seen out and about in Los Angeles. Friday night she made appearances at both the Women in Film and the ‘Sketch to Screen’ Oscar Costume Design Celebration at UCLA.

“I’m not even the slightest bit nervous because I have no chance of winning,” the costume design veteran added of her coming Oscar evening.”Kiddie costumes don’t win Oscars. Women in beaded and sequined flapper dresses win Oscars,” Powell said, hinting at the silent black and white film “The Artist,” which trails “Hugo” in Academy Award nominations (by one). Read More »

Martin Scorsese’s affection for cinema is a major theme of his movie “Hugo” and this morning the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences returned the love by giving the film 11 Oscar nominations, the most of any movie this year.

Scorsese, the director of such features as “Taxi Driver,” “Goodfellas,” “Gangs of New York,” and “Raging Bull,” is no stranger to Oscar accolades. He won the best director Oscar for the 2006 movie “The Departed.” He’s up for the award again with “Hugo.”

“Hugo” is a 3-D movie adaptation of Brian Selznick’s picture-driven young-adult book, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret.” Inspired by the true story of filmmaker Georges Méliès, the book and the movie tell the story of an orphan boy named Hugo (Asa Butterfield) living in a Paris train station who works to solve the mystery of a mechanical figure connected to a once-famous director. As the story unfolds, Hugo, and moviegoers, are transported into the formative days of film, when moving images were seen as a technological marvel, and experiencing cinema was something close to magic.

Scorsese called the Wall Street Journal to talk about his film’s Oscar nominations shortly after they were announced. Read the interview after the jump. Read More »

Fresh on the heels of her role as Mama Jeanne in the latest Martin Scorsese movie, “Hugo,” English Actress Helen McCrory — whose previous roles include Narcissa Malfoy in “Harry Potter” films — tells Speakeasy how she enjoys working on big Hollywood productions as much as independent films.

McCrory is also set to appear in the latest Bond film directed by Sam Mendes. She’s currently filming a small-budget film called “Flying Blind.”

“Hugo” is Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Brian Selznick’s young-adult book, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” about a young orphan’s quest to solve the mystery of an automaton (inspired by the true story of filmmaker Georges Méliès, who collected the mechanical figures). The 3-D film follows the boy, Hugo (Asa Butterfield), as he befriends Isabelle (played by Chloe Grace Moretz) on his adventures inside a Paris train station.

“Hugo” is 126 minutes long and also stars Ben Kingsley and Sacha Baron Cohen. The screenplay is by John Logan, adapted from Selznick’s book.

Scorsese bought the rights to “Hugo” after his own daughter fell in love with the book. Will the film, a rare PG-rated turn by the director, fare well at the box office? Read some reviews after the jump. Read More »

Film history buff Martin Scorsese can elevate any conversation about filmmaking and his participation on panel Saturday afternoon about his upcoming film “Hugo” was no exception.

Following an advance screening of the film, which features Ben Kingsley as film pioneer George Méliès, in downtown Los Angeles, Scorsese took to the stage with his film’s director of photography Bob Richardson, composer Howard Shore, production designer Dante Ferretti, editor Thelma Schoonmaker, and visual effects supervisor Robert Legato to talk shop.

The panel’s moderator, “There Will Be Blood” director Paul Thomas Anderson, kicked off the discussion by asking Scorsese whether the rich-looking 3-D film was a pleasure or a headache to shoot. Scorsese described the film as an “enjoyable headache,” adding that the experience of creating a heightened impression of 1920s Paris was an arduous process — but also a great deal of fun. Read More »

For Brian Selznick, the seed for his new book, “Wonderstruck,” came from two unexpected places: puppets and television.

It was after the success of his first book, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” and Selznick had started thinking about his next project. In “Hugo Cabret,” he had combined words with illustrations to invent the adventures of a 12-year-old orphan who lives in a Paris train station and unexpectedly befriends an eccentric young girl. The illustrations worked in the same way picture books do – he wanted the story to move forward with each turn of the page, and he wanted this to be interspersed with words. The technique worked: “Hugo Cabret” became a bestseller and won a Caldecott Medal, and is now being made into a film by director Martin Scorsese, whose own daughter loved the book.

But for his second book, Selznick didn’t want to just repeat himself – he hoped to take what he had learned from “Hugo Cabret” and do something new. Read More »

Although Martin Scorsese has spent over four decades as a celebrated writer and director, his next film, “Hugo” is his first foray into 3D filmmaking as well as the family film genre. Based on the Caldecott Medal-winning children’s graphic novel, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” the film details the adventures of an orphan boy living in a Parisian train station and exploring fantastic mechanical inventions with a new friend.

Asa Butterfield and Chloë Moretz star as the young adventurers. Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen and Jude Law round out the film while Johnny Depp has co-production credit.

“Hugo” is set for release the day before Thanksgiving, which places it in stiff competition with “Arthur Christmas” and Disney’s “the Muppets” two other family films.

Two weeks ago, actress and singer Patti LuPone grabbed a cell phone out of the hand of an audience member who was texting during a performance of her current play, "Shows for Days." The bold move led to an outpouring of support from fans fed up with glowing screens. Ms. LuPone gives us her five rules of theater etiquette.